This copy is for your personal non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies of Toronto Star content for distribution to colleagues, clients or customers, or inquire about permissions/licensing, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com

Chinese New Year: Three Canadian dragons and their fortunes for the year ahead in 2012

The year of the dragon holds different fortunes for Alex Baumann, Georges Laraque and Jeanne Beker.

Jeanne Beker

Olympic champion Alex Baumann has launched a new chapter in his life, moving his family to Auckland, New Zealand, where he will be CEO of High Performance Sport New Zealand.
(Scott Chisholm photo)

By Jennifer YangSpecial to the Star

Mon., Jan. 23, 2012

In Chinese astrology, the Year of the Dragon is the most auspicious — except, ironically, for people actually born under this zodiac sign.

“The reason is the conflict,” explains Paul Ng, an international feng shui master who lives in Richmond Hill. “Because the governing power of the year is the dragon sign, if you are also born in the year of the dragon, then it means you are trying to fight for (dominance).”

“That will make you exhausted, tired. So most dragon people tend to be illness-prone, or prone to accidents in this year.”

Of course, some dragons are exceptions; it all just depends on the structure of their birth dates, says Ng.

For three famous Canadians — Olympian swimmer Alex Baumann, fashion TV personality Jeanne Beker and ex-NHL player Georges Laraque — they are all dragons, but their birthdays also connect with the rat sign. (Baumann and Beker were born on rat days, Laraque was born in a rat month).

Article Continued Below

Because the rat is a compatible symbol with the dragon, according to Ng, these three are on track for good fortune and opportunity this year. We asked the trio of lucky Canuck dragons about their plans and hopes for this especially auspicious new year.

Alex Baumann: two-time Olympic gold medalist swimmer and former CEO of Own the Podium

The Year of the Water Dragon is upon us. So even though swimmer Alex Baumann is technically a Wood Dragon — he was born on April 21, 1964, a Wood Dragon year — it seems apropos that this year will be a lucky one for the hydrophilic dragon.

“He’s really going to enjoy this year,” Ng says of Baumann. “The opportunities will include some new endeavours in life, plus major movement.”

Ng says Baumann is at a “turning point in his life cycle.” Indeed, on Jan. 18, Baumann and his family waved goodbye to their life in Canada and boarded a plane for Auckland, New Zealand, where he will soon start a new gig as CEO of High Performance Sport New Zealand. The position is similar to the one he filled at Own the Podium, which aims to help Canadians win more medals at the Olympics.

Baumann says he’s eager to plunge into the new job. But the main theme for this new chapter in his life is family. A battle with prostate cancer last year, his second cancer diagnosis, shifted his priorities and helped drive his decision to move to New Zealand, which is closer to his Australian relatives (Baumann, an Australian-Canadian, has no family in Canada).

‘I think, with this health scare, my priorities came to the fore,” he says. “And family is one of them.”

Jeanne Beker: fashion icon and host of Fashion Television

There is something about the edgy, mystical dragon that appeals to the inner sensibilities of Jeanne Beker, Canada’s high priestess of fashion.

“It’s a rather flamboyant sign, perfect for me in fashion,” she says. “I think dragons can be powerful. They certainly are magical, and, you know, there’s a certain mystique that appeals to my romantic nature.”

According to Ng, Beker’s birthday sits on a “dominant flower sign,” which means she is attractive, charming and good with people — all fitting attributes of Canada’s fashion queen.

Although Ng advises that Beker pay closer attention to her health this year, he predicts 2012 will be a good year, full of travel and movement.

Beker holds high hopes for the months and days ahead — particularly for March 19, when she turns 60 (although, if Beker were following the lunar calendar, she would have already turned 60 last year).

She plans on celebrating the milestone by taking a trip with her two daughters, aged 22 and 24. They have yet to choose a destination, says Beker — skiing in the Alps, perhaps, or strolling through the souks of Marrakech.

Professionally, this year will see the international expansion of Beker’s clothing line, Edit, as well as an October trip to Newfoundland for the premiere of Two Square Feet, a short film she is starring in.

For Beker, she is determined to make this a year to remember. “I really want to make this the biggest and best year yet. The fact that it’s the year of the dragon makes it even more empowering and potentially magical.”

Georges Laraque: former NHL enforcer, motivational speaker and deputy leader of the Green Party

Georges Laraque, born Dec. 7, 1976, is the “the luckiest one” of these three Canadian dragons, according to Ng. “He’s into a lucky cycle, so he should do marvellous in the next four years.”

The year of the dragon has already been good for Laraque. Coincidentally, Chinese New Year happens to fall on the launch date for his very first product, a juice extractor called the G.L. Juice Express that he’s been developing with TVA Boutiques for the past six months.

It’s no George Foreman grill, Laraque says, but he hopes his juice extractor will help people eat healthier.

“It’s . . . a product that goes with my beliefs: Eating and living healthy,” says Laraque, who is vegan. “It was a perfect marriage.”

He will spend the year zipping from coast to coast to promote his book, Georges Laraque: The Story of the NHL’s Unlikeliest Tough Guy. He will also continue sharpening his figure-skating skills, a passion ignited by his 2010 stint on Battle of the Blades, and, in June, he will run a charity relay from Montreal to New York in support of single-parent families.

Laraque had two major life goals growing up: To play in the NHL and to write a book. Now that he’s achieved both, his goals for the years ahead are simpler.

“I know you’re gonna say it’s corny,” he says, “but it’s just to be able to touch people. To be able to be more happy.”

Delivered dailyThe Morning Headlines Newsletter

The Toronto Star and thestar.com, each property of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, One Yonge Street, 4th Floor, Toronto, ON, M5E 1E6. You can unsubscribe at any time. Please contact us or see our privacy policy for more information.

More from the Toronto Star & Partners

LOADING

Copyright owned or licensed by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or distribution of this content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited and/or its licensors. To order copies of Toronto Star articles, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com